Dream Analysis submission from Leslie …
I have had a recurring dream where I need to use a bathroom and I will find a bathroom but it is always disgustingly dirty – if it is in a bathroom with stalls they are all full and filthy, and even if it is a single toilet it is full and dirty.
I don't know if I am able to flush them, but I know they are always all full and gross. I remember that in an occasional "dirty bathroom" dream I have been looking for a place to live and the places I have seen have ceilings falling in or unsafe floors or are unliveable.
Dreamer's Associations
I can't seem to figure out what this means! I don't have any "dirty" habits or secrets – I am a clean person and I thought I had rid myself of all of the negative feelings I have had about relationships from the past.
I like where I live, I have a job I love and I feel happy – but this dream is a mystery.
Dreamer's Bio
Middle aged woman, divorced three times – mother of two grown children. I have started seeing my second ex husband – it is a long distance relationship – he lives 1500 miles away and visits every couple of months. Nothing serious enough to think of changing that. We dated for 9 years and our marriage last 10 months. We had three small children from previous marriages and could not work out all that was involved with that. I am happy to be involved with him again.
I have just started a new job and I love it – I had been working and struggling for a very long time and this new job will alleviate all of that worry.
I am happy with my life. I have two cats who I love very much.
11 comments
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cjarman66 says:
February 4, 2011 at 10:49 am (UTC 10)
Hi Leslie
Dreams of dirty bathrooms and overly full toilets are extremely common. In working with someone’s dreams there is invariably a period of dream of toilets and bathrooms. Typically they start off as dirty; with a little inner work the dreamer will have dream of a clean bathroom.
A bathroom and toilet is a place where one gets rid of one’s waste. Here is where we deal with our crap and other personal refuse. The bathroom is private place. Ideally we come out of a bathroom either relieved or refreshed.
When a dream states that the bathroom is dirty, full or back-flooded, then it means that process of addressing one’s own crap is amiss. It can also symbolise a lack of privacy in one’s life, but more often is a result of neglect on the part of the dreamer.
We all have a shadow side, but most of us remain oblivious to what it is. When we fail to see our own shadow, we tend to run into trouble and face conflict in our relationships. Once we are aware of our shadow, we take responsibility for our own mess and, as a result, our relationships are clearer.
Given this is a repeating dream, I’d give some thought to what you can do to work on yourself. Inner work, or working through one’s crap, is a necessary a part of one’s daily routine as is going to the toilet. We are too busy, or disinclined, to work on ourselves, that is when the dirty toilet dreams begin to appear.
So don’t take the dream too personally. What the dream is saying is you need to attend to your inner life and work through the muck that is there in each of us.
In the labours of Hercules, one of the set tasks was to clean the Aegean stables. It’s the same theme; we each need time to work through our rubbish. Inner work invariably draws our attention to the crap and rubbish in our life and in ourselves. Once this is cleared the path to new development is opened.
Regards
Craig
Ann says:
February 22, 2011 at 7:23 am (UTC 10)
Hi,
Thanks for interpreting this dream…has made a few things fall into place with my own recent dreams that I knew about but this perception triggered the ‘aha’!
Ann
Stephanie says:
September 23, 2012 at 11:38 am (UTC 10)
This is an interesting site. I found it because I had to Google, “dreams about dirty bathrooms” because I have this dream sometimes. For me, I think some of it might be because when I was a little kid (I’ll be 48 next month), my family went on some sort of camping/road trip, and I remember that the bathrooms stank and were dirty. So I’ve always thought THAT is the reason behind my gross bathroom dreams. But I’ve always been so curious about them. (I had one last night). Why do I have dreams that I need to use the bathroom but it’s so dirty and gross that I can’t? But even more interesting are my dreams of hovering. Not flying, but just hovering above the ground by a method of moving my arms, sort of flapping them and hovering above the earth. I’ve read that this means that I am a very determined person. (which I am). Any thoughts about the hovering dreams? Is the determination thing true?
Stephanie says:
September 23, 2012 at 11:50 am (UTC 10)
One other note: Your thing you said about how the bathrooms can become clean is very valid. This happened to me. After years of waking up from “dirty bathroom” dreams, I had one last night about how filthy the bathroom was. But in the dream, I complained. Instantly, people came in to clean the bathroom in the most dramatic fashion…there was even a room off to the side of the toilet area and people came into that room and prepared exquisite, finely prepared food for everybody to eat! It was so strange! I was just glad that the toilet stalls where being cleaned. I woke up before I could 1) use the newly polished toilet, or 2) eat any of the entirely, exquitely prepared food. I woke up from that strange dream, prepared myself, and caught the bus to work. But it was a great dream because FINALLY the bathroom stalls had been cleaned.
Mann says:
March 16, 2013 at 12:24 am (UTC 10)
you need to take a look at this homeopathic remedy called Hydrogenium (same as hydrogen) I say this because along with the dirty toilet dream you also have a floating/hovering one
cgonzales0806@yahoo.com says:
September 30, 2012 at 2:30 pm (UTC 10)
What does it mean when u dream with a dirty bathtub? I’ve had this dream numerous times I move the curtain to start the water and I see it full of dirt and dust with a ra or a sheet in it which is also very dirty. An the bathtub is the one in my apartment
cjarman66 says:
February 16, 2013 at 6:54 pm (UTC 10)
It means you need to take the time to do some cleaning up. Just like you might take your car for maintenance, or go on a diet or exercise regime, the psyche also needs attention.
Kris says:
November 15, 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC 10)
Thank you SO MUCH! This recurring dream has been driving me crazy! I have a dream interpretation book that stated that this dream was because of “unfinished business,” which is true in a way, but I was confused because I was thinking of external business – like painting a room that needs painting – not internal business. This TRULY hit home. I had just had a fight with my husband and “swallowed it” rather than hash through my feelings about certain things. That night I had the dirty toilet/bathroom dream. It makes total sense now, and maybe I’ll stop having this foul nightmare!!
Thank you!
Krista
Francine LeRoy says:
November 21, 2012 at 11:04 pm (UTC 10)
Thank you! Through the years I have many times had dreams like this.
They are actually very disturbing and disgusting. I wake up very upset.
This explanation makes total sense! These dreams always come at
a time when I am having personal issues and trying to sort it all out!
Thanks!
chyna733 says:
February 22, 2013 at 6:54 pm (UTC 10)
I had a dream i walked in a public bathroom which had one toilet and one sink. The bathroom had toilet tissue soiled with feces all over the bathroom. On the toilet and the sink. For some reason i had a water bottle and i used it to attempt to start clean these toilet papers with feces from the sink…as i starting cleaning i woke up. what does this mean? help please.
Dreamer bio: Im 30yo female. Im a chiropractor out Im not currently practicing because Im trying to figure out were i want to live(meaning what state) and open up my own practice. my father just recently passed 2months ago (he was my only parent mom passed when i was 5years old). Two weeks ago i decide to walk away from a 3 year on and off relationship long distance(5 hour drive which i always made he drove to see me once)because i wasn’t a priority to him (his scared of commit).
Shree says:
February 28, 2013 at 11:41 pm (UTC 10)
I have been having these Dirty bathroom dreams.And I wake up pretty scared as to what it means and if anything bad is going to happen to me.When I last had the dirty toilet dream,I miscarried.
I had a similar dream today.There was filth in the tub, in the toilet and the floor.The only difference in todays dream was I started to clean the toilet and the tub and by the end of my dream the toilet was sort of cleaned.Should I be worried.
I have been stressed out lately with my baby being sick as well as unable to find a job.